Israeli suspected of banishing kids to Britain

An Israeli woman is in police custody on suspicion she banished two of her young children to Britain.

British authorities detained a 12-year-old girl after she flew to London from Tel Aviv last month without an accompanying adult.

It emerged that the girl and her 9-year-old brother, who disappeared from the airport, had been put on the flight by their mother, a Tel Aviv resident, Israeli police said. She was arrested and remanded Wednesday.

The woman, who has been ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation, is suspected of sending her children abroad to avoid having them removed from her custody by Israeli welfare officers.

Her missing son was located in the home of a family in Leeds, Israel Radio reported, and police believe the suspect may have tried to sell her children to Britons.

The woman has a third child, aged 4, who has been taken into temporary foster care, Israel Radio reported.